Agalinis brachyphylla

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Agalinis brachyphylla is a perennial or small woody-based flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae, native to southeastern Brazil. Kew accepts it as a distinct species.

Appearance and range

It grows in rocky upland vegetation in Minas Gerais, between Diamantina and Ouro Preto. The Brazilian flora describes short, curved leaves, usually less than a centimetre long, and pink flowers with a densely hairy tube. The fruit is an egg-shaped capsule that splits open.

Ecological evidence

A 2001 investigation of root parasitism included material labelled Agalinis aff. brachyphylla. The abbreviation signals an identification close to, but not securely assigned to, this species. Haustorial connections were found in the material studied; that result should not be treated as an unqualified anatomical confirmation for every plant called A. brachyphylla.

Conservation

The species was listed as Vulnerable in Brazil's June 2022 national threatened-flora list. This is a dated national classification, rather than a newly verified global assessment.

Botanical names

The accepted name combines the genus Agalinis with an epithet originally published as Gerardia brachyphylla by Chamisso and Schlechtendal in 1828. D'Arcy's combination appeared in a volume dated 1978 but published in 1979.

Kew also places Esterhazya alpestris, Virgularia alpestris and Gerardia brachyphylla var. grandiflora in the synonymy of this species. These historical names are not treated as additional species in that classification.